Investing.com -- BTIG has added a new large-cap stock to its Top Picks focus list and raised the price target to $216 from $200, citing fresh channel checks that point to durable demand and accelerating momentum behind the cybersecurity company's platform strategy.

Palo Alto Networks is the stock in question.

Analyst Gray Powell said feedback from six partners and three additional industry and customer contacts, representing a combined $1.6 billion in annual Palo Alto Networks sales, was "constructive-to-positive across all contacts," with sentiment improving at three of the six partners relative to January fieldwork.

Prisma SASE emerged as the standout product, with all seven product-level contacts citing consistent strength.

Powell noted that Palo Alto Networks' "ability to upsell the existing firewall base into SASE gives them a structural advantage over pure-play competitors."

Contacts generally expect the company to sustain 15%-plus growth within their respective practices this year, with one partner reporting triple-digit growth in April after a period of softness in late 2025.

Cloud security was flagged as a positive surprise. BTIG had expected the migration from Prisma Cloud to Cortex Cloud to create execution risk, but four of seven contacts expressed positive views on the business.

Early feedback on the CyberArk acquisition was also said to have been encouraging, with partners describing privileged access management as "critical" and CyberArk as "one of the bright spots in cybersecurity."

BTIG sees "a modest upside bias" to third-fiscal-quarter NGS ARR and revenue, and expects Palo Alto Networks to maintain its full-year NGS ARR guidance while raising its fiscal year 2026 revenue outlook.